Rule #33: Apathy is an Essential Quality
It'll make people think you're friendly.
-()-
RECAP: It's almost Thanksgiving, so some of Peyton's hated cousins flew in. In order to get away from them, Peyton went over to the Raine house. Things went wrong, James fucked up and Peyton got hit over the head with a volleyball. It turns she had a concussion, that was caused by a car accident (first chapter), and so her mom signed her up for therapy. After two days of rest, Peyton's released from the hospital.
From my visit last time, I discerned that the Raine house didn't have a secure security system - in other words, they didn't have one at all. This makes things much easier for me, since I'm able to picklock my way in without any trouble. Since I come in early in the morning, there's nobody awake to notice me.
Except Buster.
He comes tottering down the stairs as soon as I close the door behind me.
"Shush," I say, placing a finger upon my lips.
When Buster stays quiet, I crouch down to give him a hug. He nuzzles his head in the crook of my neck eagerly. I give him a peck on the forehead and push myself again. Together, we creep up the stairs to Archer's bedroom.
One of the lights from a bedroom turns so I swing open the door and step inside before anybody - like Mrs. Raine - can spot me.
In my haste, I almost trip over one of cardboard Archer's boxes scattered around the room. This one's filled with camera supplies - film and lenses. Rolling my eyes, I step over it and examine his untidy room. He's added a few new additions to his art wall.
A few of them, I notice, are pictures of a girl. All of it is sketched in black and white - all except her pink hair. You can't see my face in them, but it's obvious it's me. In the midst of all the sketches lies my dumb thank-you card. I consider ripping it off, but then decide it would take too much time.
Archer's still snuggled up in his blankets when I approach. His peaceful expression makes me think twice on waking him up.
"What do you think is the best course of action?" I ask Buster, who comes over to sit by me. "Should I a) slap him, b) yank off his blankets c) open the curtains d) Pour a glass of water on his face or e) all of the above?"
Buster tilts his head curiously.
"I mean, it can't be too extreme, because then he might yell at me and that'll cause Mrs. Raine to wake up and then, she will yell at me."
Buster whines.
"I know," I stroke his fur comfortingly. "See, here's another problem. Should I even wake him up? I mean, he was pretty tired when he left last night and he has swim practice and homework and those college applications..."
"Peyton?"
Buster and I freeze.
Archer blinks and squints at the both of us, as if he can't comprehend what he's seeing. His soft brown hair is a mess. It's spread all over his pillow and face.
"Oh no," I whisper, mostly to myself. Is it too late to run yet?
"It is you," Archer sighs, now fully awake. "Peyton, what are you doing? You should be in bed right now."
"I've decided that a little thing like a concussion won't stop me from getting the rightful education that my adolescent brain needs," I say. And also because I didn't want to spend more time with Aunt Sue and Cousin Bettie. "So I snuck inside your house so nobody could stop me from going to school."
"What if I say no and don't let you in my car?" Archer props his arm up and rests his chin on his palm.
"Then, I'll take my skateboard again. But that would pretty dangerous, you know, since I have a concussion and all."
"Alright, fine," The side of Archer's lip curves up. "If you want to go to school that badly, I'll take you."
"Great," I chirp. This was much easier than I expected it to be. I didn't even have to threaten him with my new dagger that Jake gave me. "You can go back to sleep now. I came to wake you really early so that you couldn't leave without me."
"What time is it?"
"Four thirty."
Archer rubs his eyes with one hand. "How'd you even get into my room?"
"I picklocked your back door."
"You know how to picklock?"
"Yeah. Jake taught me. After all, that's how he used to steal-" I shut my mouth, realizing what I just said. But, luckily, Archer's busy burrowing under his blankets again. "Never mind, you just go to sleep and dream about paint or something."
"You can join me, you know," Archer mummers.
"What?"
"Nothing. I'm going to dream about paint now."
"Oh," I say. "Okay."
Buster rests his head on my lap. I stroke his snowy fur and wait until Archer's alarm rings again at six o'clock in the morning.
-()-
After a tortures day filled with headache and snide remarks from Derek, I meet Archer at our designated spot in front of our lockers so he can drive us to work. But then, I spot a crowd in front of them, including Kya and Sebastian.
Sebastian, for some reason, seems deeply annoyed with something. Maybe it's his locker, which seems like it's going to explode because there's something in it.
"Hey, Peyton," Archer greets, leaning against Sebastian's locker. "Sebastian has a get-well present for you, because he wants to be your friend. Sebastian, why don't you give your present? You know, the one you bought, with your own money?"
"Here," Sebastian flings an object in my face.
Because of my aching head, I barely have time to respond. The giant teddy bear smacks against my face before falling to the ground. Archer yells at Sebastian as I pick it up. The teddy bear has brown fur, a black nose, black eyes and a tiny small. It's like Charlotte, except in a greater scale.
Archer elbows Sebastian in the ribs.
"Get well soon," Says Sebastian, giving Archer a side glare.
"Uh, thanks."
"Look at you two," Archer says happily, oblivious to the cold look Sebastian is giving him. "You're becoming such good friends. Kya, look at them - aren't they great friends."
A receipt falls out of the bear's pink ribbon. Archer's signature is on it. I pick it up and tuck into my jean pocket, rolling my eyes. Sebastian seems like he agrees with me. Maybe we can truly bond over the mutual annoyance we have for Archer's attempts for us to become friends.
Still, when nobody's looking, I kiss the teddy's bear fur.
Finally, when Archer's done, we walk outside. On the way, I catch a glimpse of some football players, who call out my name as I walk past them. Since I've never met them before, I ignore them. Archer, who's too busy talking about an event that happened at his work, doesn't notice.
He's still talking when we get into the car and drive to work. It should be annoying by now, but I can find it in myself to tell him to shut up.
When we reach our job, I take teddy bear with me. Archer offers to carry it, but I decline.
"Are you going to name it anything?" He asks.
I think about it. "Charlotte Junior."
"Are you kidding? That's a horrible name."
"What? Why?"
"Well, for one thing, it's completely unoriginal. Then, there's the fact that this teddy bear is ten times bigger than Charlotte Junior."
"So?" I shrug, stopping right before I enter the pet store. "Size doesn't matter. Besides, the animals roll their eyes. They've probably never seen anything so cute and cuddly in their lives."
Archer puts his hands in his pockets. "I doubt that."
"Well, we'll just have to - ah!"
"Bye Peyton!" Archer calls, walking away, as my manager grabs the back of my shirt and drags me inside. Peter tugs me all the way to the back of the store, past the gaping customers, until I reach his office. Leonardo, my other coworker, waits for us impatiently.
"What's going on?" I demand.
"We have a new and - uh, unusual - arrival," Peter announces. "A client of ours has ordered from California and we're keeping it safe for a few days, until he finished the paperwork. Since you two are the best with dealing with animals, I thought you might be the best ones to take care of her. That is, if you want to."
"I'll do it," I say quickly. My heart thumps loudly. Is it a snake? I've always thought I was good with snakes, but Peter never allowed me to work with them at the store because of worker policies.
Peter nods as if he was expecting this. Then, he turns toward Leonardo.
"Is it safe?" He asks.
"Of course.
"Then, sure," Leonardo shrugs. "Why the hell not?"
"Alright then," Peter walks into the back room. "I'll bring her out in a moment. She's actually quite adorable, but a little young, so be careful when approaching her."
"What do you think it's going to be?" Leonardo whispers from the corner of his mouth.
"No idea. What do you think?"
"I don't know.
I hesitate, then say. "I hope it's a snake."
"Me too. Or a Chihuahua."
"A Chihuahua?"
"They seem really creepy. I want to meet one so I can get over my fear of them."
"Oh," I say, unsure how to react to this new information. I'm about to respond with some other comment when the door swings open again. Leonardo and I crane our necks to see the creature Peter brings on a leash.
I gasp. It's a piglet.
Pigs are my favorite animals and for a couple of reasons too-
Peyton's Reasons on Why a Pig is Her Favorite Animal in the World:
1) It's relatable! For one thing, it's intelligent, misunderstood and pink, just like Peyton. It's constantly called out, stereotyped and objectified for its body (bacon), just like her.
2) It's extremely intelligent and loves to clean and cuddle.
3) It was the first animal that really got Peyton into thinking about animal rights, as well as her becoming a vegetarian.
4) They're known to save lives. One time, on Peyton's grandmother's ranch, a pig named Poker saved her five-year old Cousin Betty from drowning by dragging out of the deep end of a pond. Sadly, Poker was butchered two months later because he had grown large enough to be eaten.
5) In China, they represent fortune, happiness and honesty
She trots up to Leonardo first, squealing and examining his fingers as he pets her little head. Her little nose goes up and down as she sniffs him.
"What's her name?" I ask Peter.
"Piggy."
"Oh, really," I mutter. "How creative."
"What would you name it, then?" Peter asks.
"Oh, that's easy, I'd -" I cut off as soon as Piggy pushes Leonardo away and trots over to my giant teddy bear, which I've propped against the wall. She squeals in delight, pushing her little paws into the mat of brown fur.
Unable to help myself, I kneel down and play for her. We do this for a while until we realize somebody needs to actually watch the store.
"Oh, by the way, Peyton," Peter calls, just as I'm about to leave."A quick word, please?"
"Sure," I pause."What's up?"
"Have you heard from Susan Smith lately?" He asks, leaning against the door. "I was reviewing some of your documents and something seemed a little off about his records."
"Susan Smith?"
"The one who came to get the pitbull last week."
"Oh," Something in my brain clicks. Images of a muscular, tattooed, male flashes in my mind. "Right - uh, no I haven't heard from him. Why? Is there something I missed in his files? I thought I checked everything."
"It's nothing," He says, although he's frowning. "It's just that the source he cited on his animal registration paper seemed unfamiliar, which is strange, because I should know almost all of them."
"Oh. That is strange."
"Yeah," Peter adjusts his suit. "Well, that's it for now. Go back to work and don't worry about it, alright?"
I nod and turn around. But even as I finish all my chores and help the customers with their pets, a dreadful feeling nags at the back of my mind. There was something off about Susan Smith, but I can't seem to recall it.
By the time I collect Charlotte Junior from Peter's office, I'm still mulling it over.
I say bye to Piggy and Peter before leaving.
"Anything interesting happen at work today?" Archer asks as we climb into his car. He asks me this every day when he picks me up from work, but this time I actually have something to share.
"Oh yeah, we got a pig," I say, pleased to be distracted. "I love pigs."
"Nice," Archer checks his rearview mirror before backing us out of the driveway. "I didn't know you could keep pigs as pets."
"They're my favorite animal," I hesitate and then, launch into my list of reasons why.
I don't mind talking with Archer. Usually, when I go on about animals, people tend to zone out, but Archer always listens to me, which a refreshing change. Today, though, I feel like there's an inside joke I'm not getting, because Archer keeps glancing my way and smiling to himself.
"Do you always speak in third person when you make lists?" He asks when I'm finished.
"Yeah. Why?"
"Oh, nothing. I was just curious."
I narrow my eyes at him, but say nothing. It's Archer turn to tell a story now. He tells me that he's eager for his birthday to come, although it's all the way in March, so he can finally work on making tattoos without any complaints.
When his story abruptly cuts off, I look up. There's a large busted-up van in Archer's driveway.
Archer's face turns sour. It's strange to see him so annoyed. I ask, "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Just looks like my cousins have arrived."
"You hate your family too?" I ask, delighted. "People think I'm a bitch when I say hate my family. But it's so hard to like them when they're racist, sexist and always to try to get you to eat meat. Once, my grandmother crumbled up pieces of bacon and hid them in my sandwich."
"No, that's not it," Archer unbuckles both of our seatbelts. "They just like to play a lot of tricks on me and my friends, that's all."
"Sounds mean."
"I'll deal with it.
"You want me to beat them up for you?" I offer, taking Charlotte Junior from the back seat. "It's hard to believe, but I'm pretty good at my punches - although, I do have a concussion and I haven't practiced much lately."
"Oh, you've practiced plenty. Remember that bruise you gave me from that punch?" Archer glances at my teddy bear and smiles. "Thanks for the offer, but I'll be fine without your help."
"If you say so."
"I do. Now get out of my car."
- () -
Aesthetic for Archer above. Also, just as a trivia question, can anybody guess what Peyton would have named the pig? There are several hints in the chapter.
"...."
(0,0)
/)....)
""
I'm so sorry for such a late update. But now that my exams are over, I'll be sure to update twice as much. Next chapter, you'll be meet more of Peyton's family and I think I might make a character list in case things get too confusing. Until then.
Thanks for reading!
QotC: If you could up with a rule (like the ones in the chapter title), what would it be and why?